Camelot Homes receives top honors for Purchase Experience, Design Experience and Percentage of Sales from Referrals. Shining moments for Camelot Homes in the 22nd Annual “HomeBuyers’ Choice Awards” 2018 from Eliant. The third-generation homebuilder in Scottsdale received those aforementioned headline honors, ranking it a Top 5 Winner. More about the honors in the press release at Rose Law Group Reporter.http://bit.ly/2GdGgpS
Surprise P&Z advances Prasada development; plans for 2,207 homes on 772 acres. “To be built in 10 phases over 15 to 20 years,” this Toll Brothers at Prasada project would be on “1.2 square miles” of desert land bounded by Cactus Road, Peoria Avenue, Cotton Lane and 175th Avenue.” Construction phase details, plus aerial sitemap and recap of P&Z’s preliminary plat approval, at YourValley. http://bit.ly/2IHpYEe
Maricopa considers streamlining housing development process. “As construction on residential housing ramps up in Maricopa, the city is considering ways to make the process easier for developers… A team of planners began brainstorming how to consolidate timewasting steps and documents about a year ago.” The results at InMaricopa. http://bit.ly/2GRYrPW
192 affordable MF units for Cottonwood. “Inspiration at Cottonwood will be a new, two- and three-story garden style apartment community designed to provide workforce housing to fill a growing need for families currently living in, or moving to, the Verde Valley [and ‘with amenities normally seen in upscale apartment complexes’]. Developer Inspiration Holding Company, LLC hopes to break ground this summer.” More at AZBEX. http://bit.ly/2DNLTpC
Community meeting planned for proposed Payson subdivision. “The project [from EJD West Development] calls for putting [536] multi-family and single-family homes on both sides of Tyler Parkway…” Next week, neighbors will weigh in on the plan at a public hearing that will “focus on a rezoning request for [the] 92 acres…” Payson Roundup has a graphic of the Preliminary Site Plan, plus info on when and where the hearing will take place — the description for which strikes us as a bit Sopranos-esque: At a church out on the highway, behind a grocery store, “across from Tiny’s.” http://bit.ly/2u9KmKQ
Mill Town to remove ground floor commercial to stay below height limit. “When the [Flagstaff City Council], especially Councilman (Jim) McCarthy, who is an engineer and has a planning background, said [Mill Town] was just too tall, we heard that,” says Walter Crutchfield of Vintage Partners. Still, Crutchfield says that he has “a little bit of a sense of loss, because I think what we designed was amazing.” More on the Mill Town project and its redesign in Arizona Daily Sun.http://bit.ly/2FS4EOv
That giant Tucson project? Yeah, it’s Amazon. “The Tucson area has been abuzz with speculation about a massive… warehouse/distribution center project being planned for Century Park Research Center/Port of Tucson that would have a footprint of between 800KSF and 1MSF.” Get the full lowdown on the facility, plus learn how Lya Parrish and the AZBEX team got the story, despite “deafening silence” from officials early on. http://bit.ly/2pu1Nkp
275KSF “The Landing at PMG” planned in Mesa.WHAT: A “highly functional and affordable industrial, manufacturing and distribution space” on “20.89 acres.” WHERE: Ray, between the 202 and Gateway Airport. WHO: Marwest Enterprises. DETAILS: Design elements, rendering, and construction timeframe — at AZBEX. http://bit.ly/2Gd2Bnq
[VIDEO] After Goodwill opening, what’s next for Edison Pointe.“Hundreds of people lined the new sidewalks of Edison Pointe’s first retail grand opening last week as Goodwill opened its doors.” There was even a bit of Goodwill camping as two high schoolers spent the night “at the used-retail shop’s front doors.” Get up to speed on the “retail frenzy” in this one-minute, info-packed VIDEO report from InMaricopa. http://bit.ly/2IDKohc
Milwaukee Brewers break ground on $75M spring training ballpark renovations.Phoenix Business Journal has a SLIDESHOW and report on the renovations and improvements that folks can expect to see at Maryvale Baseball Park upon completion, some 10 months down the road. KEY FEATURE: The “learning lounge,” a place “where free tutoring will be offered to neighborhood students via a partnership between the Brewers and [GCU].” http://bit.ly/2u6COZp
Construction starts on two airport hotels on 44th Street in Phoenix.PBJreports that “Tucson-based Canyon Building & Design has broken ground” on a Holiday Inn Express and a Home2 Suites by Hilton “on about 4 acres of land located just south of Loop 202 on 44th Street.” Tap on for rendering and design details. http://bit.ly/2ptqqhe
Maricopa considers upscale hotel options. “The facility would likely feature 100 rooms, a breakfast dining area, 450 square feet of meeting space, an outdoor pool and whirlpool, a fitness room, a lobby work station, a market pantry, a guest laundry room, and an outdoor patio and barbecue area… The idea stems from a hotel feasibility study that was just completed for the city…” Maricopa Monitor. http://bit.ly/2u8NoyL
Tribal lands attract commercial development near casinos.AzBigMediatakes a look at how Arizona casinos — both newly built facilities and those undergoing renovation — “are attracting big commercial investment and development interest to the tribal communities and surrounding areas.” http://bit.ly/2puXW5X
Pinal County files response to Goldwater lawsuit to stop RTA tax. “The tax and the transportation infrastructure improvements it is meant to fund were approved by county voters in November.” GI calls the tax “complicated and confusing”; Pinal County and the Regional Transportation Authority counter, calling those claims “apparitional” and GI’s lawsuit “nothing more than a post-election attack by those who failed to convince voters to oppose the transportation tax…” The latest developments at InMaricopa. http://bit.ly/2HPRWMM
$14M parking garage coming to Gilbert’s Heritage District. “The 1.2-acre structure [near Gilbert and Vaughn] will add 600 more parking spaces, valet services, electric car hookups and an illuminated tower clock.” Rendering and further details (including why some are calling the project “Garage Mahal”), at AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2pvqcFl
Data center investment in U.S. reached record-levels in 2017. “According to the latest U.S. Data Center Trends Report from CBRE, investment in the U.S. data center sector reached record levels in 2017…” And the Phoenix market was a major contributor in helping to set that record. World Property Journal. http://bit.ly/2pv8h1P
Phoenix unemployment rates indicate substantial economic growth. The unemployment rate (as of Dec. 2017) stands at 3.9 percent, which is “lower than the national average,” and indicates that the “job market in Phoenix is growing” and the “economic climate is experiencing vast improvement.” And “what is ultimately driving unemployment to such a low point”? There are “varying opinions” on that — in Downtown Devil. http://bit.ly/2DL2lGP
Cancer Treatment Centers of America plans major expansion in Valley.“Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), located in Goodyear, is expanding its Valley network with the opening of two Outpatient Care Centers this month, with a third Valley location planned later this year.”AZ Business Magazine. http://bit.ly/2FQgJDz
AG refutes Wickenburg mayor’s ‘blackmail’ claim; mayor’s AG complaint on next council agenda.Background: Mayor Everett Sickles filed a complaint asking the AG’s office to look into the matter of the renegotiation of the marketing contract between Wickenburg and the Chamber of Commerce. The Mayor’s Claim: The attorney general told him that blackmail exists in Wickenburg. The AG’s Response: There was no such conclusion. The Twisted Tale: Sorted out in Wickenburg Sun.http://bit.ly/2IEn3vI
Want to be heard? Text a lamppost or bench in Mesa. “The interactive digital art project [called Hello Lamp Post] will be on display throughout downtown Mesa until April 16 and will give residents and visitors the chance to interact via text message with… lampposts, benches, newspaper boxes, public art, sculptures and the Mesa Arts Center building.” East Valley Tribune. http://bit.ly/2udvaMQ
Officials urge against jumping to conclusions about Uber fatality. While investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National Transportation Safety Board “arrived Tuesday in Tempe in the aftermath of Sunday’s fatal collision between a pedestrian and a self-driving Uber car,” officials maintained that it was “too early to tell who was more at fault” in the accident. Phoenix New Times (RELATED, from PBJ: “Ducey updated the autonomous vehicle executive order weeks before Sunday’s fatal Uber crash.” And from The Guardian: “ ‘Uber should be shut down’: friends of self-driving car crash victim seek justice.”). http://bit.ly/2pv0ilj
Trump chides Justice for not appealing SCOTUS ruling in Arizona Dreamer drivers case. President Trump yesterday “criticized his [DOJ] for not pushing the Supreme Court to hear an appeal” from Arizona, “which was seeking to overturn a judge’s ruling that it must issue driver’s licenses” to Dreamers, POLITICOreports. And here’s what the all atwitter Trump tweeted —> http://bit.ly/2Gd8IYU
Senate passes bill to regulate public school property sales. “Five years ago Tucson Unified School District sold a no-longer-needed building to a developer for $1.6 million, $400,000 less than offered by a Christian school. On Tuesday, state senators voted to block Tucson schools – and any other district – from doing that ever again.” Capitol Media Services/Howard Fischer in Arizona Capitol Times. http://bit.ly/2ps2A4C
Bill would put governor, legislative leaders in charge of universities’ policies, dismantle Board of Regents. “Instead of a 10-member board appointed by the governor, [Rep. Mark] Finchem wants a board of elected officials to serve as ‘trustees’ and separate, local boards for each of the three universities. The bill would put the governor and legislative leaders in charge of setting policies… on issues such as tuition rates, reducing student debt or increasing job placements for students.” AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2G2iJoj
WalletHub ranks states according to innovation; so, is Arizona innovative? “WalletHub compared the 50 states and [D.C.] across 22 key indicators of innovation-friendliness” — ranging “from share of STEM professionals to R&D spending per capita to tech-company density” — to find “2018’s Most & Least Innovative States.” (RELATED, from PBJ: “New group set to promote, advance Arizona tech growth.”) http://bit.ly/2pvWf8t
